Corals during the new aquarium ugly phase

[AdamBerg]

Hi all, I am about 8 weeks post cycle and have seen new algae types every other day, which I understand is normal. I’m interested in soft corals and am wondering if I should wait for the ugly phase to end before buying corals?

Thanks!

Adam

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Grab some snails from the lfs and get the ugly under control. And ask for some hardy corals.
Enjoy.

 

[LiveWire]

I would wait till you get through most of the ugly phase. You just need to get through that part and it will give you time to double check and research more on the corals that you are wanting. Then I would test the water parameters to make sure all is a go.

 

[dantimdad]

Get some snails. Wait until they start getting under control.

If you have stubborn algae run tests and figure out what it is.

Then get a leather coral and try it out.

 

[McFly]

The uglies can last years, I vote for some easy softies.

 

[Billdogg]

Any stony corals you might be interested will stand a much better chance if you allow the tank to mature for awhile. IMHO, you really should wait 6 months or so although I know it is difficult to resist.

 

[AdamBerg]

Test are coming back normal so far, nothing obvious jumping out. Just a bunch of green!

 

[AdamBerg]

 

[ahiggins]

How did you fare with the uglies? Any advice?

 

[LIreefguy]

If all you want is easy corals. I saw add them. Honestly if you can’t keep the easy ones alive you probably won’t last long in this hobby. .
All corals you can add right after cycle
Gsp
Mushrooms
Some easy fast growing Zoas and palys
Kenya tree coral
Xenia

These corals should be bulletproof and will use up some of the nutrients before the undesirable stuff Does

Remember algae will grow on that new bare rock even if your tank has undetectable nutrients

 

[Rscott]

I never understood this

First of all the ugly stages can be avoided, it’s not something that has to happen

Also yea the tank should mature right
Well then how do we explain the ability to put a coral in a brand new QT system on day that has no maturity whatsoever or even live rock. Just bacteria on a sponge

I am building a QT system that will get corals right away before they go into my DT

I’m not suggesting to add corals during cycling but once a it’s complete and they are QT’ed I will add them to my system

I wouldn’t take my advice as I’m a noob but that is what my research leads me to believe

 

[LIreefguy]

I never understood this

First of all the ugly stages can be avoided, it’s not something that has to happen

Also yea the tank should mature right
Well then how do we explain the ability to put a coral in a brand new QT system on day that has no maturity whatsoever or even live rock. Just bacteria on a sponge

I am building a QT system that will get corals right away before they go into my DT

I’m not suggesting to add corals during cycling but once a it’s complete and they are QT’ed I will add them to my system

I wouldn’t take my advice as I’m a noob but that is what my research leads me to believe

Yes You can add corals right away. Just a new tank is less stable then a mature tank. And if your going to add sps and your new. There is a 99 percent chance those corals won’t see a year
Hard for me to explain exactly the reason scientifically
But I’ll try my best

A new tank doesn’t have to go through an ugly stage, no your are correct
If you use all live rock, all live sand, if don’t add any fish for a while you don’t have to go though new tank ugliness
It is 100 precent avoidable. Especially if your done if before
Reason we tell most people to wait 6 months before adding any harder corals
Such as sps and some harder lps is a new tank is bound to have nutrients spikes and alk jumps as you and the tank settles in.

You ever see a piece of rock that has been in someone’s tank for over 2 years
Compare it to a rock at 1 day. Then a Rock at 6 months you will slowly see a transformation

All that life, feather dusters, sponges, algae and all the life you can’t see helps your tank with its stability.
Hope I did an ok job explaining it

Ps I never cycle any of my tanks over the course of 25 years in the hobby by adding ammonia to my tank. I always just buy or use old rock from one of my old tanks just my 2 cents

 

[Rscott]

Yes You can add corals right away. Just a new tank is less stable then a mature tank. And if your going to add sps and your new. There is a 99 percent chance those corals won’t see a year
Hard for me to explain exactly the reason scientifically
But I’ll try my best

A new tank doesn’t have to go through an ugly stage, no your are correct
If you use all live rock, all live sand, if don’t add any fish for a while you don’t have to go though new tank ugliness
It is 100 precent avoidable. Especially if your done if before
Reason we tell most people to wait 6 months before adding any harder corals
Such as sps and some harder lps is a new tank is bound to have nutrients spikes and alk jumps as you and the tank settles in.

You ever see a piece of rock that has been in someone’s tank for over 2 years
Compare it to a rock at 1 day. Then a Rock at 6 months you will slowly see a transformation

All that life, feather dusters, sponges, algae and all the life you can’t see helps your tank with its stability.
Hope I did an ok job explaining it

Ps I never cycle any of my tanks over the course of 25 years in the hobby by adding ammonia to my tank. I always just buy or use old rock from one of my old tanks just my 2 cents

Thanks for the reply, interesting stuff that’s for sure

I’m only a few weeks in and I’m starting to see little things pop up all over.
Rather interesting

Although I dream of an sps reef I know better Especially with the cost of frags

Eyeballing a Superman monti. I love hard contrasting colors.

Just started cycling my QT today
Tried bio spira

Did Red Sea reef mature in my DT thought I would try something else

 

[ahiggins]

All that life, feather dusters, sponges, algae and all the life you can’t see helps your tank with its stability.

If you start with dry everything (rock/sand) and introduce nothing...how will sponges/feather dusters (basically anything except bacteria and algae) be present? Most of the “living” life that comes into aquariums are from frags/introductions. Right?
Ps. I’ve never cycled a tank the traditional way either, I’m curious though

 

[LIreefguy]

If you start with dry everything (rock/sand) and introduce nothing...how will sponges/feather dusters (basically anything except bacteria and algae) be present? Most of the “living” life that comes into aquariums are from frags/introductions. Right?
Ps. I’ve never cycled a tank the traditional way either, I’m curious though

They get in on frags. Yes you might not get as much as someone who uses live rock but you will still get a lot. It mostly just takes more time.
As far as pest. You still can get pest from frags
This is why I never understood the reasoning behind using only dry rock. Imo most pest that are bad for corals are on frags
They don’t like being on rocks. They want to be by food source
fully encrusted frags or far worse thise mini rocks are bad imo. Coral pest like to hid out on the base of the corals
If I ever buy a frag on a base rock I always snap it off first

 

[Rscott]

They get in on frags. Yes you might not get as much as someone who uses live rock but you will still get a lot. It mostly just takes more time.
As far as pest. You still can get pest from frags
This is why I never understood the reasoning behind using only dry rock. Imo most pest that are bad for corals are on frags
They don’t like being on rocks. They want to be by food source
fully encrusted frags or far worse thise mini rocks are bad imo. Coral pest like to hid out on the base of the corals
If I ever buy a frag on a base rock I always snap it off first

I heard cutting the plug off was a good idea

 

[LIreefguy]

I heard cutting the plug off was a good idea

Yes I do that on fully encrusted corals myself.